Ottawa hair salon offers private place for hijab-wearers

Anew Magicutshair salon on Ogilvie Roadis offering something many other salons don't: a private room where women who wearhijabcan get their hair done.

RachaKalkas,ateacheratAhlul-BaytIslamic School inVanier, said the lack of privacy in salons can lead women like her who wear hijaba head coveringwornby some Muslim womenin publicto seek out hairservicesin private homes.

"Even though we wearhijab, we do take a lot of careof our hair. Even though it doesn't show to other people, we do it for us. For our own sake," she said.

"We docolour our hair, wecut our hair, we brush it you know, just like any lady. But then we just ask for the privacy."

Even though we wearhijab, we do take a lot of careof our hair.- RachaKalkas

Kalkassaid even if salons offer hair cuts behind a curtain, the placement of security cameras can remove the illusion of privacy.

"It's easier for us, if we know someone who cuts hair and they come over our house or we go over to their place to get a hair cut. You feel that you are in a place that isactually private," she said,adding that the private room at Magicuts is a welcome feature.

"It's very good to have a salon where you can go where it's private."

Fatima Mantache, anotherteacheratAhlul-BaytIslamic Schoolwho also wears a hijab, said she gets salon services from a woman she knows. Butshe said she hasgone to public salons in the pastand found staff to be very accommodating.

"It's becoming easier," she said.

'You have to get with it'

Magicuts manager Carole Signore said a Middle Eastern hair stylist at the salon suggested the privateroom forwomen who wearhijab.

"She [said]that there's not too many places that do this, so she thought this would be a great idea," she said.

Theirfirst private room was created at anotherlocation, and when they opened their new shop on Ogilvie Road they made the room bigger and more private, Signore said. It hastwo stations instead of one, as well as a sitting area.

"Our society is multicultural ... most of our stylists here too are multicultural. We have one from Haiti, one from Turkey, we've got one from Lebanon. So yeah, you have to get with it," Signore said, adding that it's nice for people to be ableto get out to a salon instead of having to dotheir hair at home.

The private room is advertised in a sign in Arabic on the salon's window.

"I've had a few men stop by and ask, 'Oh, you've got a private room?' because they read it on the window. ... 'Very good. I'll send my wife,'" Signore recalled.

It's a bit of a pilot projectand if it does well, Signore hopes other Magicuts locations will get private rooms, too.